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A couple of weeks ago a group of friends and I spent a day holed up against the cold in our local pub. A couple of drinks turned into a late lunch, and then a couple more drinks.

I confess that we left in the early evening after one or two too many, and it was only several hours later that I remembered we had walked out without paying the food we ordered several hours before.

I now assume that there was a shift change during our time in the pub, and that the staff present when we left were not the same as those who took our food order.

Anyway, I am eager to own up and pay the money I owe - it's my local and I get on well with the management. However, I'm anxious that in offering to pay my share I will draw attention to my friends, who will then be expected to pay up too.

Don't get me wrong, I have told them I want to pay back the money and have said they should do the same, but I don't really want to force them into it.

A couple of them have pointed out - probably correctly - that the pub is very busy and that such errors must happen all the time and will not get noticed. I really don't expect any of the staff will raise the issue of the unpaid bill when we return.

One friend said that he has found himself on the wrong end of similar honest mistakes and has been overcharged in the past, so he won't worry too much about one that goes in his favour.

So, do I repay the money and force my friends to do the same, or keep quiet?

The solution

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